21-Year-Old Mother Beaten And Burned To Death By Her Ex-Boyfriend Over A Paternity Test
A 21-year-old Phoenix mother has been found dead with significant burns after being reported missing by her family.
According to police, Jasmine Dunbar was found on Wednesday afternoon after her infant was found left alone in a car seat on the previous day. Although the body has not been officially identified by medical examiners, the body was tentatively identified as Dunbar, reported ABC 15.
Dunbar’s family last saw her on Tuesday night with her ex-boyfriend, 20-year-old Antwaun Travon Ware. According to the family, Ware picked up Dunbar and her 7-month-old baby so that he could take a paternity test.
After discovering Dunbar’s body, police located Ware and asked him to come into the station for questioning.
Although Ware first told police that the dropped Dunbar back off at her apartment, he later admitted to getting into a physical altercation with her. Ware said he punched her several times and left her in a field. Then, in a panic state, he dropped the child off in another area and went back to Dunbar’s body.
Ware said he put a piece of paper on Dunbar's body, doused it with gasoline and lit it with a cigarette. He watched as the fire burned out and left to pick up the baby. However, when he arrived at the scene where he left the baby, he saw the area covered with police and fled.
Jasmine's mother, Tonya Smith, was outraged that her daughter was killed during a fight over a paternity test.
"She asked you to take a DNA test, how's that worth killing somebody over?" said Smith. "I'm angry. I feel like, 'Why, God?'" Smith told ABC 15.
Police collected evidence on the scene, including a gas can, and were able to establish enough probable cause to charge Ware with one count of first-degree murder, kidnapping, abandonment of a body and child abuse.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay for Dunbar's funeral expenses and take care of her child.